Chapter 51

The streets crawled with military Jeeps and personnel. Maya, entering the thrift shop where she did most of her shopping, greeted the owner, whom she knew well.

"What's up with the soldiers?" she asked, glancing out the front window.

"Aliens," said a gleeful Marco. "The military isn't saying, of course, but my cousin whose sister is married to the brother of the assistant to the base commander says they tracked the alien to town."

Maya didn't try to follow the convoluted family connection the news came from, but the chill from his words, though, made her ask, "Do they know where he is?"

"Nah, the dogs lost his trail apparently. They haven't started a door-to-door search, but it's coming."

"Would you turn an alien over if you found one?" Maya asked casually as she browsed through the bins.

"Never. Knowing what the military would probably do, that would just be asking for an intergalactic war."

Maya smiled. She remembered many a night by the glow